It is desirable for software applications executing on PCs, servers and other processing devices for business or other purposes to offer users the capability of customizing application functions to meet specific customer needs. To this end, it is advantageous to allow an application to support the use of a user customizable expression to determine particular decision logic to be used by the application. Such an expression may take various forms and may include algebraic elements for implementing a variety of functions including, for example, computing a value or range of values, defining search criteria for performing a record search as well as defining a statement to be verified. In a health care payment processing system, a user may enter a customizable expression to estimate an insurance company reimbursement sum for a particular procedure, or to search for particular patient records or to verify particular eligibility criteria of a specific patient, or for many other purposes, for example.
A number of problems arise in offering a user the capability of customizing expressions for use with one or more software applications. These include the difficulty posed in providing a user interface that is straightforward to use by a person who is not a software programmer and yet provides the capability to implement any function that the user may desire. Other difficulties arise in integrating the entered expression with the associated software application in a manner that allows execution of the application together with the expression in an efficient manner without significant degradation in execution speed. A further difficulty arises in maintaining multiple expressions (perhaps hundreds or thousands of expressions) associated with multiple different applications and managing the update, editing and replacement of expressions. An expression may become obsolete, for example, if data used by an associated application is changed.
One known system allows a user to define an expression for use with an application by employing an extensive decision matrix of available customizable expression options and associated data to be used with the expression options. This approach limits the expressions that may be used to those supported by the decision matrix and results in the creation of a complex matrix that is not user friendly. Another known system allows a user to define an expression using SQL (Structured Query Language) in the form of stored procedures to determine desired decision logic. This has the disadvantage of being difficult to use since it requires expertise to produce efficient SQL procedures and also typically exposes a user to the complexities involved in the data relationships between the expression and the application that uses it. It also bypasses the abstraction and data integrity rules that are written into the application business objects.
A system according to invention principles addresses these problems and derivative problems.